Saturday, April 28, 2018

The incident affected 11,000 customers and more than 29,000 people in northern New Hanover County earlier this week.

WILMINGTON -- A mechanical failure caused a spike in fluoride levels in northern New Hanover County this week that left thousands of people unable to drink their tap water, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) announced Friday.

Customers affected may a receive a $5 credit -- enough to pay for about 500 gallons of water -- on an upcoming bill, the release said. The utility’s board is expected to consider the matter, which affected 11,000 customers, at its May 9 board meeting.

Wednesday morning, CFPUA warned customers throughout the northern end of the county served by the Michael E. Richardson Groundwater Treatment Plant to avoid drinking the water because of elevated fluoride levels. The problem resulted in do-not-drink advisories for much of Wednesday and boil-water advisories lasting into Thursday for parts of the area.

CFPUA has, according to the release, started its investigation into how the fluoride entered the water.

While the plant was in an off stage, the utility announced, fluoride “siphoned into stored water,” resulting in the high levels when the plant was turned back on. As soon the high levels were detected, operators shut down operations and stopped pumping water from the plant.

CFPUA announced it will not use the fluoride feed until it has finalized the review, which is expected to occur next week. Fluoride is added to water to prevent tooth decay.

“It is crucial that CFPUA fully understands the cause of the mechanical failure,” the release said, “in order to identify and implement corrective measures to ensure this does not happen again.”